MUMC Announces New Institute for Injury Research and Prevention

(November 14, 2012) – Each year more than 2,700 people are treated for devastating injuries in the Level 1 trauma center at Memorial University Medical Center (MUMC). Sadly, many of those injuries could have been prevented.

To improve the health and wellness of the entire region, MUMC has created the Institute for Injury Research and Prevention. This new Institute will use research, education, training, and outreach to reduce the impact of injury and violence in our region. The Institute is the vision of Gage Ochsner, M.D., FACS, chief of trauma services and surgical critical care at MUMC.

“We see so many traumas that could have been much less serious and even prevented if only the patient had taken appropriate precautions,” said Ochsner. “As an academic medical center, MUMC has the infrastructure in place to create an outstanding injury prevention institute based on research and prevention.”

The Institute will be led by a team of physicians, nurses, researchers, educators, and other health professionals. They will identify the leading causes of preventable injuries in our region and provide education to significantly reduce those incidents. The Institute will also: •Provide education on an array of topics related to safe driving, hunting, water sports, ATV use, cycling, workplace injuries, life-changing falls in the senior population, and other causes of injury.•Gather and share trauma data with the rest of the state, giving MUMC a leading role in predicting and preventing injuries before they happen.•Train physicians in rural hospitals on the importance of transporting patients to MUMC’s Level 1 trauma center within the life-saving “golden hour.”

It will cost approximately $1 million to launch the new Institute. Through gifts to the Memorial Health Foundation, $500,000 has already been committed to this project, and the balance will be raised through donations and grants. The new Institute is expected to be up and running by the middle of next year.